James Bay Cree Self-Governance and Land Management

Abstract

I review James Bay Cree Peoples’ efforts to restructure their relationships to wider systems of economy and nation-state polities within a developed liberal-democratic nation. I show that the relationships that already exist in such states are more complex than has generally been recognized in existing prescriptive discussions of how to respond. I also explore the limits for short-term restructuring within a liberal democratic state. These limits are sufficiently narrow that fundamental conflicts between Cree aspirations and state aspirations and practices cannot be resolved in the short term. Nevertheless, within the limits of a liberal-democratic state there are quite diverse and short-term means by which a people can enhance their opportunities to pursue their goals in the longer run. The future outcomes, however, remain decidedly uncertain.